It's common knowledge that VoIP is a relatively new technology, but do you know how it became popularized? Today, we're going to take a look at the biggest source of VoIP's surge in popularity — video games — as well as why they continue to be a great combination to this day. A few weeks ago, we even published a great history on the origin of VoIP that might give you a better sense of where VoIP came from.

The Origins

Even if you don't play video games, you've certainly heard that today's games let you play online with other players. Compared to the early days of the Atari 2600 and the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), which only allowed for two players to play on the same console, this is quite an achievement. Couch co-op, as it's called, is a term for multiple players playing on a single TV, as opposed to online multiplayer, which allows players from all over the world to cooperate or compete in their favorite games.

Online gaming was first possible with the Sega Dreamcast when the SegaNet service went live in 2000, but the system failed for a variety of reasons. Nearly every console that followed it has included functionality for online play, with the PlayStation 2 and Xbox being the first to widely implement it. While early titles lacked a cohesive network (like we have today with PlayStation Network or Xbox Live) and so instead relied on published-provided servers for each different game, the systems let you play matches online with other owners of the game, and even allowed you to talk to them via VoIP.